Not Quite Run of the Mill
by Jeanka
Summary: Ashley's problems just got much more unordinary.PRIS
1. Thanksgiving entry

Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers, but Ilove writing about them.

_Dear Diary,_

_I thought that I had come up with the best idea when I invited Andros to spend Thanksgiving with me and my family. It was prefect. Cassie was going to be with TJ and his family, while Carlos had plans to spend Thanksgiving Day with his mom and sisters. That left Andros and since I was already going to my parents house, it seemed only natural and fair that I ask him to come along. I was even more thrilled when he accepted. We were just starting your dating relationship and this gave him a chance to see what he was getting into._

_When we arrived at my Parent's house, my brother, Jeff, was already there…_

"Ashley!!" Jeff exclaimed throwing his arms around the petite brunette.

"Jeff!" she cried with equal enthusiasm. He put her down, but still held her close. "I've missed you so much. Did you mom tell you I made the team again this year?"

"Of course," he said smiling at her. "And I thought she was suppose to tell you that I got straight A's this semester."

"Wow, that's impressive," said Ashley. She glanced over in the direction that she had left Andros. He wasn't there. She spun out of Jeff's embrace to look for him. To her surprise, he was talking with her parents on the porch.

"Who's that?" asked Jeff.

"That's would be Andros," Ashley replied with a smile.

Jeff nodded for a moment before asking, "Who?"

Ashley laughed at him and walked up to Andros. "Well, I guess you've met Andros. So, let's eat."

Mr. Hammond looked down at his wife, and she met his gaze. "Of course," she said looking at her husband before turning back to her children and their guest. "Come on in."

_At the time, it never occurred to me that my parents seemed warier then usual. But after the meal got started, I noticed that they were getting quiet and then a real surprise…._

"Honey," Mr. Hammond said to his wife. "Could I speak to you in the kitchen for a moment?"

Ashley looked slightly thrown. Her father was a public speaker by profession. He was skilled in the art of diplomacy and timely excuses, but this was not like him. Jeff was in the middle of telling a story and just paused before the "outburst". Mrs. Hammond nervously smiled and followed her husband into the kitchen.

"Any ideas?" Ashley asked looking to her brother.

Jeff shook his head and starred at the kitchen door. Andros watched the siblings, but tried to listen to what the parents were saying.

The ringing of the phone caused both Jeff and Ashley to jump, but it was Ashley who answered it. "Grandma?!" she said. "We weren't excepting a call from you until tomorrow. How's Hawaii?"

She nodded as she listened to the phone and smiled at Andros. He was talking quietly to Jeff. She assumed that it was so that they wouldn't bother her. "Ok Grandma, we'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye." She hung up the phone and sat back at the table.

"What did Grandma want?" asked Jeff. He was sitting hard against the back of his seat. Andros had his one elbow on the table. He looked as comfortable as ever.

"Just to talk," Ashley said with a smile.

She didn't say any more as her parents came back in and took their seat. "Where were you, Jeff?" Mr. Hammond asked as he picked up his fork.

"Um…"

_I didn't really think about it because Jeff finished his story and dinner went on like normal. It wasn't until we were leaving that I got the slightest reminder that things were not so normal… _

Andros was standing on the sidewalk watching some children play in a park across the street. Jeff was standing next to his parents while Ashley faced them from the porch steps. "Ashley, honey," Mrs. Hammond said quietly. "Maybe you could come by later._ By yourself_."

"Ok, mom," said Ashley, not suspecting anything. She gave them all a hug and joined Andros. Andros took her hand and they walked out of sight.

_I sort of forgot about that night until Jeff called the other day. He was trying to tell me something about Andros when the phone went dead. I haven't heard from him in a couple hours. I'm going to go search for him. I write tomorrow and tell you what I found. _

_Love, _

_Ashley Hammond_


	2. The next day

_Dear Diary,_

_I found Jeff safe and sound. He gave a pathetic excuse and claimed he never called me. So, I spent most of the day with my parents. They seemed happy to see me because when I got in the door…_

"Ashley!" Mrs. Hammond exclaimed seeing her daughter.

"What a pleasant surprise," agreed her father as they both moved to hug her. "Is Andros with you?"

"No, he's…" Ashley hesitated to fill it in, "…out of the area."

Relief came and went from Mrs. Hammond's face. "Good," she said sweetly. "Would you care to go shopping with us? We have to pick up a few items for a business party your father roped us into attending."

"That sounds fun," agreed Ashley.

_Shopping only lasted for half an hour before my parents got really bored and decided that we should have some fun as a family. So, my dad picked up Jeff and met mom and I at the Surf Spot. Cassie and Carlos were alreadythere, making it easy to let the team know what my plans were for the day. But it also didn't stop__ Astronema from spoiling it…_

Beep beep beep beep beep beep…

"Oh, um, I forgot," stammered Ashley as her communicator made itself known. "I'll be right back," she said running off before her family could ask her any questions or follow her.

"Ashley," she told it.

"Monster in the Warehouse district!" TJ shouted at her.

"I'll be right there!" she said and closed the channel. Flicking her wrist, her morpher appeared in place of the communicator. "Let's rocket!"

Cassie fired her Satellite Stunner just as Ashley made her entrance. "That didn't even faze him," cried Carlos moving beside the Pink Ranger.

She frowned as the Silver Ranger moved to her other side. "Any other ideas?" he asked them.

"Quadroblaster," Carlos offered.

Cassie gave him a sideways glance. "He's stronger than that."

"What did I miss?" Ashley asked joining TJ in "distracting" the monster. Andros grabbed her and pulled her out of the fight with him. "Call the Delta Megazord," he instructed giving her the battlizer control. Behind the helmet, her confused face watched as Andros rejoined TJ.

Andros had never taken her out of a fight before. Running over to a secure area, she called to the Megazord. "Thank you," a female voice said as metal arms surrounded her and held her in place.

Astronema came around to face her and with a sneer pried the battlizer out of her hand. "And tell my brother how happy I am that he took up my offer."

She felt something hard hit the back of her head and the world went black.

Ashley awoke with a killer headache. She tried to use her hand to block the light only to find that her wrists were tied down. "Oh, how wonderful! Yellow Ranger, I am Doctor Zit."

TBC

A/N: The conclusion of this diary entry next chapter.


	3. Conclusion

...Ashley awoke with a killer headache. She tried to use her hand to block the light only to find that her wrists were tied down. "Oh, how wonderful! Yellow Ranger, I am Doctor Zit," said a creature in a white lab coat. He looked down on her, his straggly hair popping out of his head in odd directions.

She looked at him with unsure eyes. "What's going on?"

He gave her a huge smile. "You are in my lab. This is my favorite part. See," he said moving out of sight. Ashley heard him tapping at something. "I like to keep my patients informed about what's going to happen to them unlike some evil scientists."

"Evil scientists!" she shrieked.

"Oh yes," he said. The table she was laying on began to move. As she watched, everything began to come into perspective as it flipped towards the floor. "There aren't many like me any more. We're like a dieing race."

Ashley just stared at him with wide eyes. "I guess you want to know how you got here, again. Well, as I told you the last time, I made a tiny mistake and took out the wrong part of your brain. I was about to put it back in when you woke up. However, I could save you a lot of pain and screaming if you just tell me what I need to know."

Ashley felt that she was going to be sick. She couldn't even tell if he was being serious, but if he was…

"Where is the Orb of Fire that Andros stole from Ararat?" the scientist asked slowly as he approached her with a strange looking machine.

At first, she couldn't even hear what he asked. She was too entranced on the machine that was coming closer to her. It could have been the spinning blades or perhaps the sharks that were flying off it. Maybe it was the whirling screw that was in the center of it. "Um," she said gulping. "Could you repeat the question?"

"Oh come on Ashley, your acting like you've never seen this thing before. Oh wait, maybe you haven't. Well, in that case I'll go a little lighter on you," he said. Turning away, he put down the instrument and found something less vile looking. "How's this?"

Ashley gave him a look. She could get past the fact that he was asking her if this device was painful enough. "I'll take that as _yes, doctor, it is better,_" he said with a smile. "Now, back to business. Where is the Orb of Fire that Andros stole from Ararat?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said.

"Ashley," he said in a warning tone. "Let's not play this game. We were getting somewhere before I took your brain out. Why can't it be like old times?

_Dr. Zit kept talking to me for an hour before he used his "better" machine. It hurt, a lot. I had to force myself to think about Earth and Zordan just to keep from losing what was left of my mind. Dr. Zit tells me that he only used the device for a minute, but I felt longer. He left for lunch after our torture session telling me that this type of activity works up an appetite. I found it sick, but I was too nauseous to care. It seemed like a day before he came back with a meal. I had to eat it through a tube. Apparently I used meal time to attempt escapes to many times. Finally, I felt confident enough in my ability to ask questions as I worked on fact hunting._

"Dr. Zit," Ashley said as the doctor put down her tube.

"Yes, my sweet," he replied looking back up at her.

"How _did_ I get here?"

He sighed with a smile. "Astronema wanted information, so she sent out a announcement to anyone evil that she needed a mad scientist to extract information out of a very suborn subject. I volunteered and since my work is legendary, I got the job and here we are." His smile seemed to fade a little as his gaze became far away. "It was really hard at first. You were so loyal to Andros it was disgusting, but after a time, you gave in.

"Never," she said shocked at herself.

"Oh, I would have believed that too, if not for Andros's…" he paused looking for the right word, "...broadcast." She raised an eyebrow to him. "He declared in an alliance gathering that he was following his sister and changing sides. That was after he sat through the battle plans and other tactical reports. Brilliant really. He had them eating out of his hand. You and I watched the meeting together. Of course, you choose not to believe it at first, but in time, you did. After, he came to see you.

"I've never seen you so uncomfortable, even during one of our sessions. Seeing him just irked you the wrong way. I remember. You couldn't look at him very easily. It made me sad really," he frowned. "I wanted to protect you from that truth, but now Andros is a general in Astronema's army and he has all the force he had as the Red Ranger."

Ashley wasn't sure what to say to anything. She was still getting over Andros betraying them that she couldn't spend the effort thinking about anything else. "Ashley," Dr. Zit said softly as he moved closer to her. "I don't want to keep you here forever. I had just gotten through to you before the "brain incident". All I need to the location of the Orb of Fire or a name."

"A name? Of what?"

"A contact. Someone I can ask to give me the location."

"Why don't I just go ask Andros?"

Dr. Zit starred at her numbly. "What?"

"I'll do it. He won't lie to me, that stupid idiot of a man. He can't. Tell him that you broke me and I will get him to tell me the location."

Dr. Zit smiled lightly. "I doubt it will work, but it's worth a try. I'll get him right now." He turned to the door, but stopped. "Would you like your brain back before or after?"

Ashley glared at him. She still couldn't believe she was missing a potion of her brain. "After."

His smile grew as he left.

_I waited for over a day, a real day, before he returned. Only he didn't bring Andros, instead he had Ecliptor. Apparently Astronema didn't want to waste her General's precious time, so I got a torture session. By the time Ecliptor left, I couldn't feel my lower body. Dr. Zit kept telling me that it wasn't that bad. If anyone tells you that, you know it's obviously worse. _

_I've decided to let myself sleep. Maybe the next entry will be the last. _

_Ashley. _


End file.
